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Posts Tagged ‘Dakota Wesleyan University’
Still wondering “what if…?”
February 25th, 2010
How do entrepreneurs find the inspiration to start their ventures? And where do entrepreneurs turn to find the resources necessary to grow their businesses. Those are poignant questions for rural community leaders. Obviously there are no simple answers, but I’m hoping to better understand the opportunities surrounding them at the Launch10 Conference at Dakota Wesleyan University today. It’s a conference that brings entrepreneurs, college students, educators, and community members together to talk about their futures.
While talking to Jim Beddow about the Launch10 Conference a couple weeks ago, I learned that fellow Wesleyan alumnus, Eric Pulse is part of new business venture in Kimball, SD (pop. 745). Thinking that he might have an interesting perspective on these questions, I gave Eric a call, and we chatted about his venture, The Original Kimball Popcorn Ball. It turns out he had a lot to share.
I’d really hoped to share the story about the startup of this rural business in greater detail today, but time just hasn’t cooperated. I do, however, want to share one piece of advice Eric had to offer.
Before ending our call, I asked Eric what advice he had for entrepreneurs. He responded, “Don’t be the person who sits back and wonders in ten years, what if…?”
Sage advice. I think it speaks to rural communities as well, which brings us back to why I’m attending the Launch10 conference.
There are lots of models for supporting entrepreneurs. Littleton, CO’s Economic Gardening process and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship’s E2 model come to mind. But communities leaders, like business leaders, can’t sit back and wait for entrepreneurs to appear and then expect them to be successful on their own. Instead we’ve got to be intention and be prepared to support them. Or else in ten years, we’re going to be the one’s wondering “what if…?”
Tags: Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, Dakota Wesleyan University, Economic Gardening, entrepreneurship, Kimball SD, Launch'10
Posted in Economic Development, Rural, Training and Events | Comments (0)
Nurturing an Entrepreneurial Generation
January 18th, 2010
We know that Gen Y is an entrepreneurial generation. But what can we do to take advantage of this opportunity in our rural communities?
While thinking about the above, I felt inspired to compile a list of 5 Thoughts about Entrepreneurship, as it applies to young people. While not particularly profound, I think the value of the list is that it speaks to the importance of events like Launch ’10 that connect entrepreneurship, education, and community involvement:
- Entrepreneurs are made, not born. While some people may be genetically inclined to be risk takers, entrepreneurship is the culmination of life experiences.
- Educators have a responsibility to teach young people to be entrepreneurial. By this, I don’t mean that educators should try relating their entire curriculum to starting a business. Rather, I think it suggests educators need to inspire young people to ask questions and be inventive. Ideally that starts in the elementary grades, but it’s never too late.
- Communities and educators need to inspire young people to become entrepreneurs, and take risks by starting their own businesses. Inspiration can come from a lot of sources, but I’m always reminded of how I was inspired by the stories of high school students when I was in grade school. Whether it was athletics or music, I wanted to be like them. Are you sharing those stories?
- Communities play important roles in developing and supporting entrepreneurs. Often, rural economic development professionals think supporting entrepreneurs revolves around helping them find the financial resources to start their business. That’s late stage thinking. If communities want to increase the deal flow of new business development, they need start working in the entrepreneurship chain much earlier.
- It’s never too late to become an entrepreneur. Enough said.
Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD created the Launch Conference five years ago with the goals of accomplishing much of what I’ve described in the list above. This year, their one-day conference features keynote addresses from Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET) co-founder Sheena Lindahl and EET facilitator Arel Moodie (two highly accomplished young entrepreneurs); and Dr. Kay Palan, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Iowa State University.
One of the things I like about the conference is that it brings together entrepreneurs, faculty, and community development professionals. It fits well with the Rural Learning Center’s guiding principle that “It’s all connected.”
I have the date of this year’s conference (Feb 25th) marked on my calendar. If you’d like to learn more or register for the conference, I’d encourage you to check out the conference website by clicking here or by clicking on the advertisement in the right sidebar.
Tags: Dakota Wesleyan University, entrepreneurship, Gen Y, Launch'10, Mitchell SD
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (3)